2011 has been a time of change and uncertainty. As Europe continues to fight off_x001E_ an ongoing debt crisis and global firms continue their Australian onslaught, the Australian legal market has witnessed a number of major lateral partner moves. Lawyers Weekly presents its Top 25 movers & shakers of the year

Name: Adam Levine

Firm left: Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Firm joined: Middletons

Location: Perth

In March, M&A and capital markets partner Adam Levine left Mallesons Stephen Jaques to join the partnership of Middletons."Do you remember that old guy from The Shawshank Redemption that had been in prison for most of his life, and he gets out and he can't survive - he just doesn't know what to do with himself?" laughed Levine when talking about leaving Mallesons. "That is how I felt. For the first few weeks I thought,'What do I do?' I realised that I had been institutionalised ... It was a bit of a culture shock, but I am happy to say that I am being re-institutionalised over here now." Levine said moving firms has given him the opportunity to find a niche for himself in an exciting legal market. "A few months down the line, I really feel that I am getting some ways towards doing that."

Name: Stephen Kerr

Firm left: Freehills

Firm joined: HWL Ebsworth

Location: Melbourne

After 15 years as a partner at Freehills, Stephen Kerr left the top-tier in March this year to join HWL Ebsworth’s commercial team in Melbourne. Kerr joined the firm along with Freehills executive counsel Teresa Torcasio, bringing with him a depth of expertise in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, complex due diligence and broad commercial skills. While at Freehills, Kerr led the firm’s commercial contracting team. He was also previously a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Name: Neil Pathak

Firm left: Freehills

Firm joined: Gilbert + Tobin

Location: Melbourne

In March, Gilbert + Tobin announced the addition of top-tier mergers and acquisitions partner Neil Pathak to the firm’s Melbourne office. Joining G+T from Freehills, Pathak was brought in to lead the firm’s Melbourne M&A team. “I’m really excited about growing something in Melbourne,” explained Pathak. “There’s going to be a challenge in the sense that the brand isn’t well known yet in Melbourne, but that’s the excitement of it.” At the same time as Pathak’s appointment, the firm also announced it had secured Tony Bancroft, a specialist in major corporate and commercial transactions, who joined G+T’s Sydney team after spending 30 years at Mallesons.

Name: Deborah Templeman

Firm left: Minter Ellison

Firm joined: Gilchrist Connell

Location: Perth

Deborah Templeman made headlines in August when, only days after the announcement that global firm Squire Sanders would be establishing a Perth office with 14 Minter Ellison partners, she decided to join a boutique firm instead. An insurance and corporate risk partner, Templeman, who had been with Minters for 20 years, announced her intention to start up the Perth office of specialist insurance firm Gilchrist Connell. She took senior associate Justine Siavelis, associate Bradley Baker and several lawyers and support staff with her. “My clients wouldn’t know Squire Sanders and wouldn’t see the logic,” she told Lawyers Weekly. “It also enables us to have lower overheads ... The model suits us.” Gilchrist Connell also has offices in Sydney and Adelaide and, since parting ways with Thomsons Lawyers in 2008, has grown its practice by 50 per cent.

Name: Natalie Gullifer

Firm left: Freehills

Firm joined: Lander & Rogers

Location: Melbourne

After deciding it was time for a change, financial services expert

Natalie Gullifer made the move from Freehills to Lander & Rogers, taking with her a team of seven. Leaving the partnership of Freehills, Gullifer left the top-tier for Lander & Rogers on 1 June, along with Peggy Haines, Beth McConnell, Marlene Hewer and three other staff. A Freehills partner since 2004, heading up the firm’s Melbourne superannuation and financial services team, Gullifer took with her 15 years of experience in financial services regulation, including funds management, superannuation and anti-money laundering. A partner at Freehills between 1995 and 2009, Haines is a senior lawyer who has worked exclusively in superannuation and financial services for the last 20 years. She joined Lander & Rogers as a consultant. “Every client that we had at Freehills has followed us to Lander & Rogers and we’ve also won some new clients, which has been great,” said Gullifer.

Name: Matthew Allchurch

Firm left: Allens Arthur Robinson

Firm joined: Johnson, Winter & Slattery

Location: Sydney

In a recent article in the Australian Financial Review, Allens Arthur Robinson chief executive partner Michael Rose said his firm had not suffered any headline departures this year. Lawyers Weekly disagrees. The loss of Matthew Allchurch to Johnson, Winter & Slattery was a blow to the blue-chip firm. Allchurch is one of Australia’s most well-regarded banking and finance lawyers, having been a partner at Allens for 10 years and Clayton Utz for nine years prior to that. His client list included Westpac, ANZ, Macquarie Bank and Deutsche Bank. At JWS, he is pursuing an altogether different strategy. “I saw an opportunity to develop a high quality top-end debt finance practice that is acting for borrowers not aligned with banks and financial institutions, after 25 years acting for banks,” he told Lawyers Weekly. “I didn’t think I could execute that strategy at Allens in a way that I could foresee that it might operate at JWS.” JWS is well known for poaching top-tier partners. In addition to Allchurch, this year the firm has taken Austin Bell from Blake Dawson, Calum Henderson from Norton Rose, and Marko Komadina from Gilbert + Tobin.

Name: Michael Palfrey

Firm left: Clayton Utz

Firm joined: Sparke Helmore

Location: Canberra

Sparke Helmore snapped up four lawyers from Clayton Utz this April. Public and administrative law expert Michael Palfrey joined Sparkes, bringing 11 years’ experience gained in the legal branches of the Department of Finance and Deregulation, Department of Health and Ageing, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration. “The transition’s been very good because I’ve come to a firm that has government as its core focus, so there’s support and resources dedicated to the industry I specialise in,” said Palfrey, whose role changed from senior associate at Clutz to partner at Sparkes. Palfrey now advises on Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) matters and general statutory interpretation, including FOI and privacy law. Former Clutz consultant and associate professor in constitutional law at the Australian National University College of Law, James Stellios, also joined the firm. The four appointments followed the firm’s 2010 appointment of five government specialists, including partner Richard Morrison from Clutz.